Adhesive bandage and method and apparatus for making the same



y 1949- c. B. STENVALL 2,476,924

ADHESIVE BANDAG'E ANDv METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING THE SAME FiledNOV. 8, 1947 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 MjYSEfNTOR WWMMM ATTORNEY July 19, 1949.c. B. STENVALL 2,476,924

ADHESIVE BANDAGE AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING THE SAME 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 8, 1947 INVENTOR v ATTORNEY WWW M PatentedJuly 19, 1949 ADHESIVE BANDAGE AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING'THESAME Carl B. Stcnvall, New Rochelle, N. Y.

Application November 8, 1947, Serial No. 784,805

14 Claims. 1

This invention relates to adhesive bandages and to methods and apparatusfor the forming of the same.

The type of adhesive bandage which is composed of a strip of fabricbacking and a layer of adhesive with a gauze pad or the like on alongitudinal central portion thereof is highly advantageous for thecovering of superficial cuts, abrasions, burns and other minor woundsand particularly for protecting small wounds such, for example, as ascratch on a finger or hand. A large number of proposals have bcen'madefor the formation of such bandages. Among these are the provision insuch bandages of a pad composed of a plurality of layers of gauze whichextend from edge to edge of the bandage and the provision of a, padwherein the layers of gauze all stop short of the side edges of thebandage. The former type has been subject to objection on the groundthat the threads at those edges of the gauze which are coterminous withthe side edges of the base strip tend to unravel, to become imbedded inthe wound, or to produce an unsightly appearance. The latter type issubject to the disadvantage that the free adhesive at the sides of thepad tends to adhere to a portion of the wound which protrudes slightlybeyond the coverage of the bandage, and to pull out the skin near theWound so as to give p'ainor to interfere with the healing process. Inaddition, the pad is either entirely dependent on its bottom layer tohold it in place, or else there must be provided supplemental stitchingor other securing means.

With the foregoing and other considerations in view the presentinvention contemplates the provision of an adhesive bandage whereincertain of the layers of gauze terminate sho'rtof the sides of the basestrip but where, at each side, at least one layer extends out to theside and is in contact with the adhesive thereon. In its more specificaspects it contemplates a gauze pad having folds running longitudinallyof the bandage, whereby the presence of loose threads out ofcontactwithv the adhesive is avoided without the presence of free adhesive atthe side edges of the wound. Such folds can cooperate with theadhesively-secured side portions to retain a medicament particularlyeffectively when desired.

Moreover, the provision of adhesive bandages wherein all the gauze isspaced. back from all the edges of the base involves, almost ofnecessity, the individual formation of the pads and the placing of them:on. the adhesive-coated base as an independent step. Even if the padsare formed continuously from a continuous strip of gauze, the gauzestill has to be. severed before the pads are laid upon the coated base.This base is ordinarily in the form, of a web which is itself severedafter the pads havebeen pressedagainst the adhesive coating. Thus, twocutting operations have been necessary. The present invention, on theother hand, contemplates theprovision of pads from a, single strip of,gauze which remains unsevered until the web is cut into individualbandages. Pursuant to. the inventions. strip of gauze is formed intofolds at spaced intervals, leaving an extent of unfolded gauze betweeneach set of folds. The gauze is pressed against the adhesive-coatedsurface of the web. The web is thereafter out along lines which bisectthe unfolded portions 01' the web between the pads, thus providing padswhich are securely bound to the base, but which in their upper layers donot reach the sides of the base, and which in use provide excellentprotection for a wound.

Pursuant to the invention, further, there is provided mechanismincluding feeding means for a web, feeding means for a strip, andcoordinated folded and cutting means, whereby methods as above indicatedmay be carried out and bandages as above indicated may be formed.

The invention'accordingl y comprises the article possessing thecharacteristics, properties, and relation of elements, the several stepsand the relation and order of one or more of such steps with respect toeach of the others, and the apparatus embodying features ofconstruction, combination of'el'ements, and arrangement of parts,

adapted to effect such steps, all as exemplified in the detaileddisclosure hereinafter set forth, the scope of the application thereofbeing indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature objectsot the invention,reference should be to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, which: V

Figure I is a, perspective view partly broken away of an adhesivebandage-embodying the invention;

Fig. 1a is alarge-scale somewhat diagrammatic sectional view along theline ia-Ia of Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified form of bandage:

Fig. 2a is a large-scale somewhat diagrammatic sectional view along theline 2a2a of Fig. 2;

Fig. 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating a term of. procedurefor producing such against the stop pin 4! adhesive 1 l and a centralpad I2, the whole being covered until time for use by removable piecesspring 40 is thrust forwardly to form a fold 55;

the end of the spring 40 serving to frictionally engage the material 35on the plate 39. As the roller 41 climbs the rise 52, the spring 45 isagain' drawn back; and, as the roller descends toward the rest 54, thespring 46 is thrust forward to form a fold 55 in proximity to the fold56. While the roller 41 is vertically stationary during the movement ofthe rest :54 pastit, the movement of the web 35 draws outthe gauze 35 toprovide the space between one pair of folds 55-56 and the next pair offolds 55-56.

l3 and M of wide-mesh cloth; The padfl2 the present instance is formedfrom a single strip of gauze I5 which is creased at l6, folded back uponitself on a crease l1, creased at l8,rand

folded back again at l9 to 'provide five..overlap'-. ping gauze layers20. V The creases are preferably 7 and as exemplified disposed somewhat'inw'ardly of the side edges of the members It and II and of the nearedge (Fig. 1) ofthe lowermost layer and of the far edgefFig. 1) of theuppermost layer 20, In certain instances' thereis provided, inaccordance with the invention, medicament as, for example, theantiseptic ointment 2l between the two upper ones of the layers 26;

As will be apparent, various modifications may be made without departingfrom the invention. For example, there is shown in Fig. 2 a constructionwhich is generally similarly formed and in which similar parts areindicated by similar reference numerals bearing the subscript a, butwherein the strip l5a is only folded over and back upon itself onceto'provide only threeoverlapping layers and wherein, in the presentinstance,

no medicament is provided."

In the formation of adhesive bandages in accordance with'the inventionan adhesive-coated web of relativelyheavy cloth or other suit ableflexible material is fed intermittentlyas of rollers 3'! which have asurface speed corre- V sponding to the surface speed-of the rollers 32plus an increment sufiicientto feed the material for the folds to beformed, and which are continuously operated. .Above the path of the web25 there is mounteda plate 39 overwhich-the Z gauze 35 passesin itstravel from the roll 36 to the web. Movable back and forth on top of theplate 39 is the end of a flat spring-or tongue46 which extends'back overa stop pin 4lto join a torsion spring 42 which pulls .:'the spring '40The spring 42 is mounted on'a pin 43 fixed to a bell-crank lever 45which is pivoted at 46. A ballbearing 41 carried at the free end ofthelever by means of. brackets 35 on the plate 39; the adhesive on theweb 25 7 serving to prevent the'gauze being'drawn rearwardly by thespring 46. 'As the roller 4'! rides into the hollow between the rises53'and 52, the

:Thus, two folds 55 and 56 may be formed in the gauze 35,.with anunfolded portion of gauze between them and the next pair of folds. Theforward movements of the spring 48 not only form the folds; but also, inthe present instance, push the gauze against the adhesive on lines'5'l'and 58 which will correspond to the creases l6 and [8 in the bandage ofFigure 1.

The gauze now travels forward with the web until it encounters anobstruction-in this instance the surface of the upper r011 32and ispressed rearwardly thereby so that the folds 55 and 56 will-:lie againsta portion of gauze which'follows the folds. In the exemplifiedarrangement, the upper .roll .32 will now press the folds downagainst'the gauze and the web to provide the four-upper layers 20 of apad such as the pad 12 of Fig. 1. Medicament maybe applied. to thegauze, asindicated at 38. A reciprocating cutter 5:9 .severs the webbetween the pads to provide bandages such as shown in Fig. 1.

Various other procedures and means may be used without departingvfromthe invention in its broader aspects. There is illustrated in. Fig. 4 aform which differs from that of Fig. 3 mainly in 1 the provision oftwosimultaneously operated tongues instead of a single tongue, and. ma

change in the shape of the cam..-=A web 251) similar to the web 25,"ancl a strip of gauze 35b similar to the strip 35, are provided, andare, for the most part, similarly; handled. The exemplifiedapparatus-includes membersAlb, 43b, 45b, 46b, 41b and 4812 all of whichare similar respectively to the parts shown in Fig. 3 that .aredes-'ignated-by similar reference numerals without subscripts, The platefi39bextends rearwardly further than the platei39: Onthe pin 43b there ismounted a 'torsionspring 59;controlling an arm .60 on the free end ofwhich gisia torsion spring 6! carrying a;fiat'spring.62 andbearing foldsin the gauze; the spring 62 operating over the forward portion of. theplate 3% tothe sa'me extent as the spring 46, and thespring- 64 oper-'ating simultaneously over there'ar portion of the plate 391) to theposition shown in Fig. exto move forward with the spring 62,5 and-thenover the forward portion to form the "secondfold;v .Therem'ainingoperationsin this form of procedure are similar to those exemplified inFig. 3."

Since certain changes in the above article and p in carrying-out theabovefmethod andin-the constructions set forth, which embody thezinvention, may be made without departing from its scope, it'is intendedthat allmatter contained in the above description or shownin theaccompanying drawingshall be interpretedasillustrative and not in alimiting sense. r

I claim:

1. An adhesive bandage comprising an adhesive-coated flexible basestrip, and a pad on a longitudinal central portion thereof and includinga plurality of layers of gauze, certain of said layers extending to thesides of said strip and certain of said layers terminating short of thesides of said strip.

2. An adhesive bandage comprising an adhesive-coated flexible basestrip, and a pad on a longitudinal central portion thereof and includinga plurality of layers of gauze one of which extends to one side of saidstrip and is in contact with the adhesive thereon, another of whichextends to the other side of said strip and is in contact with theadhesive thereon, and at least one other of which terminates short ofboth sides.

3. An adhesive bandage comprising an adhesive-coated flexible basestrip, and a pad on a longitudinal central portion thereof and includinga single gauze strip folded upon itself and extending from one side tothe other of said base strip with creases therein at points inwardly ofthe sides of the base strip.

4. An adhesive bandage comprising an adhesive-coated flexible basestrip, and a single gauze strip folded upon itself at least four timesto provide a pad of at least five layers disposed longitudinallycentrally of the base strip and gauze portions adhesively secured tosaid base strip at each side of said pad and all of which are in contactwith the adhesive coating on the base strip at at least a portion oftheir extent.

5. An adhesive bandage comprising an adhesive-coated flexible basestrip, and a pad on a longitudinal central portion thereof and includinga single gauze strip folded upon itself at least twice to provide a, padof at least three layers disposed longitudinally centrally of the basestrip and gauze portions adhesivel secured to said base strip at eachside of said pad.

6. An adhesive bandage comprising an adhesive-coated flexible basestrip, and a strip of gauze folded to lie across a longitudinallycentral portion of the base strip with the creases extendinglongitudinally of the base strip and disposed inwardly of thelongitudinal edges of the base strip and with the end portions of thestrip of gauze in contact with said adhesive and extending to thelongitudinal edges of the base strip to provide a pad which is disposedinwardly of all edges of the base strip and which is secured thereto bysaid end portions.

7. A method of forming an adhesive bandage which comprises providing aflexible base carrying a coating of adhesive, folding a strip of gauzeat least twice upon itself on lines nearer together than the width ofthe base, and laying an outer fold of the gauze transversely against theadhesive on a portion of said base which is generally central of a pairof the edges thereof.

8. A method of forming an adhesive bandage which comprises providing aflexible base carrying a coating of adhesive, folding a strip of gauge aplurality of times on lines nearer together than the width of the base,laying an outer fold of gauze transversely against the adhesive on aportion of said base which is generally central of a pair of the edgesthereof and the inner side of a portion of the other outer layer ofgauze against the adhesive, to hold the pad securely in place.

9. A method of forming an adhesive bandage which comprises providing aflexible base carrying a coating of adhesive, folding a strip of gauzeupon itself, forming a crease in said gauze and pushing the creaseagainst said adhesive, and pressing the resultant folds back andcompacting against said base said resultant folds and a portion of saidstrip of gauze beyond said folds.

10. A method of forming an adhesive bandage which comprises providing aflexible base carrying a coating of adhesive, providing a strip ofgauze, forming a plurality of creases in said gauze and drawing saidcreases together, adhering the creased gauze to the coated base, andthereafter flattening the folds intermediate said creases to form a padwith additional creases on the side opposite the aforesaid creases.

11. The method of making adhesive bandages which comprisesintermittently moving a web of adhesive-coated material along a path,continuously feeding a narrower strip of gauze toward a longitudinallycentral portion of said path, forming the gauze into a plurality offolds at spaced intervals along its length as it approaches the web,adhering the gauze to the web and compacting the folded portions of thegauze to form pads, and cutting the web between at least certain of saidpads to provide individual bandages.

12. The method of making adhesive bandages which comprises moving a webof adhesivecoated material along a path, feeding a narrower strip ofgauze toward a central portion of the web, forming the gauze into aplurality of folds at spaced intervals along its length to provide pads,adhering to the web the pads and the intermediate unfolded gauzeportions, and cutting the web on lines bisecting said intermediate gauzeportions to provide strips wherein the gauze extends to each side of thelongitudinally centrallylocated pads.

13. Apparatus for the manufacture of adhesive bandages comprising meansto feed an adhesivecoated web along a path, means to feed a strip ofgauze toward the web, means to fold the gauze upon itself, means tocause said folding means to operate only at spaced intervals, anobstruction in the path of said folds to press them 7 against said web,and means to out said web and said strips at points intermediate saidgroups of folds.

14. Apparatus for the manufacture of adhesive bandages comprising meansto feed an adhesivecoated web along a path, means to feed a strip ofgauze toward the web, means to fold the gauze upon itself and press thecreases against the adhesive coating on said web, a roll on the side ofsaid web on which said folds are formed to press said folds back to forma pad and to press the portions of said strip between said folds againstthe web to secure them thereto, means to out said web transversely, andmeans to operate said outter means at intervals to out said web betweensaid pads to provide individual bandages.

CARL B. STENVALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following referen'ces are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,476,924July 19, 1949 CARL B. STENVALL It is hereby certified that errors appearin the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiringcorrection as follows:

Column 3, line 67, after the word are insert so; column 4, line. 10, forweb 35 read web 25 column 5, line 65, for gauge read gauze;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these correctionstherein that the same may conform to the record of the case in thePatent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 16th day of May, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Oommissz'ongr of Patents.

